In 1779, a composer, writer, teacher, and dreamer named Christian Neefe arrived in Bonn, Germany, to work for the Electoral Court. Neefe (pronounced nay-fuh) was the definition of what Germans call a Schwärmer, a person swarming with rapturous enthusiasms. In particular, he was inflamed with visions of endless human potentials that the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment promised to unleash. Like many progressives of the time, Neefe believed that humanity was finally coming of age. So he had picked the right place to get a job. Bonn was one of the most cultured and enlightened cities in Germany; the court supported a splendid musical and theatrical establishment. Before long in his new post, Neefe found himself mentoring a genius. Meanwhile, in his spare time, he signed on with a plan to, as it were, rule the world.
Link: How the Illuminati influenced Beethoven.
More Pieces Of The Puzzle ....
Keep them grounded in reality – show them sites on logic and logical fallacy. Tell them that if they are going to pursue such things, they must first be well versed in the art of thinking logically and picking out logical BS in the writings of others – not just paying lip service to the idea of thinking for themselves. Following such conspiracy web sites without doing one's own research and debunking it is just another means of thinking like a sheep. It's no better than following the alphabet soup media companies.
When I was young, I followed the conspiracy theories a lot. But as I learned HOW to think, I realized that there are few conspiracy theories that hold water. But then there are a few things sticking out in plain sight that still scare the heck out of me. Like the industrial scale and effectiveness of modern day propaganda in America.
You should understand that most conspiracy theorists are really ideologues who just cannot accept the fact that our world is as f$$ked up as it is simply because we made it that way. They want to think that the average person is better than the world we created. They want to think the world would be better than it is if not for these few conspirators ruining things. But the truth is more painful than that – we are not better than the world we created for ourselves. We are every bit as f$$ked in the head as the world we created suggests.